Cyanogen Raises A Cool $80 Million In Funding

In what is known as Series C Financing Cyanogen, popular 3rd party rom maker for Android devices, has raised $80 million from a group of influential investors, they announced today.

With plans to use the money to “accelerate the development of its Open OS” and to allow it to hire new staff, Cyanogen issued a press release, along with a statement on the company website, to let users know a little more about their forthcoming plans.

Many will see this as a warning shot to the likes of Google, Samsung and other top-tier OEM’s, along with Apple to some degree, that Cyanogen should be taken more seriously as a viable alternative to the status quo that as a company they are here to stay and they are capable of playing at the same level as the rest of them. With investors such as Twitter Ventures, Qualcomm Incorporated and Rupert Murdoch (owner of Fox News, Sky News and 20th Century Fox as well as many others) along with other major backers this latest investment has brought the total invested to $110 million.

“We want our OS to be as accessible as possible, so that many millions of people can have a better, more powerful mobile computing experience and choose what default apps and services they want. Real choice. Real freedom.”
-Kirk McMaster, CEO Cyanogen

On their company website Cyanogen go on and spell out a little of their plans of the future of the company. “We want our OS to be as accessible as possible, so that many millions of people can have a better, more powerful mobile computing experience and choose what defult apps and services they want. Real choice. Real freedom.” Many will no doubt read this to mean they hope to take on the dominance that Google has with Android and their apps such as the Play Store, Gmail, Maps. While I will not say that is what they are saying, I will say the future that Cyanogen have ahead of them is sure to be interesting. A future that we should all be paying attention to.

PALO ALTO, CA–(Marketwired – March 23, 2015) – Cyanogen Inc., a leading mobile operating system pure-play, announced the completion of an $80 million round of Series C financing. With offices in Palo Alto and Seattle, the company will leverage the infusion of new funding to hire talent and accelerate the development of its open OS platform.

The financing was led by Premji Invest and includes participation from new strategic investors Twitter Ventures, Qualcomm Incorporated, Telefónica Ventures, Smartfren Telecom, Index Ventures, Access Industries (the US-based industrial group headed by Len Blavatnik), Rupert Murdoch, Vivi Nevo, and several yet to be announced partners. Existing investors Benchmark, Andreessen Horowitz, Redpoint Ventures, and Tencent Holdings Ltd. also participated.

“We’re committed to creating an open computing platform that fundamentally empowers the entire mobile ecosystem from developers to hardware makers, and most importantly, consumers around the world,” said Kirt McMaster, CEO of Cyanogen Inc. “We’re excited to have the backing of an amazingly diverse group of strategic investors who are supporting us in building a truly open Android.”

“We invested in Cyanogen because we’re big proponents of what they’re doing in opening up Android and supporting global and local ecosystem players,” said Sandesh Patnam, Technology Sector Lead of Premji Invest. “Cyanogen is well positioned to become the 3rd leading mobile OS, and we’re excited to back them in growing their business on a global scale.”

To date, Cyanogen has received a total of $110 million in funding. Cyanogen is known for both its commercial distribution, Cyanogen OS, and open-source project CyanogenMod.

About The Author

When not talking about technology in his opinionated way, Robert can be found writing other things or making music, neither of which you will read or listen to. He has a dislike of writing his own bio along with having his picture taken. If found grumpy, approach with a cup of black tea.